


Sokka Alone

by technetium43



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Eastern Air Temple, Gen, Post-Canon, Self-Doubt, crazy earth kingdom locals, it would be helpful if youve read the comics but not completely necessary, sokka is the undisputed boomerang master of the world, spirits make no sense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25696204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/technetium43/pseuds/technetium43
Summary: Aang sends Sokka on a diplomatic mission to a province on the far side of the Earth Kingdom. His journey starts out tedious, but that changes when he stops in a town being targeted by a child-stealing spirit. It'll take everything he has to solve the mystery, set things right, and most importantly, make it out alive.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Sokka Alone

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this story because I wanted to explore Sokka's character. I was interested in the way they presented his feelings of inadequacy in the show and wanted to expand on that. I also liked the idea of a solo adventure for him in the style of 'Zuko Alone' or 'Korra Alone'. I tried to be as faithful to Sokka as a character and the world of Avatar as I could, and I hope that I succeeded in that while also introducing a new location and characters. I hope you enjoy the story!

It was only when he’d been forced to ride halfway across the Earth Kingdom on an ostrich horse that Sokka realized how lucky they’d been to have Appa. In the saddle on an air bison, you stretch out your whole body or even lay down and take a nap. In the saddle of an ostrich horse, all you could do was try not to lose feeling in your butt. 

Matters weren’t helped by the fact that Sokka had gotten an extremely dumb mount as a companion for his journey. Tai the ostrich horse got distracted at every turn, and it took enormous effort to ensure they didn’t wander too far in the wrong direction from where they were headed. 

Though he’d been looking forward to it, Sokka’s solo journey was turning out to be much less grandiose and definitely less fun than all the travels he’d taken with his friends. He’d been tasked with delivering a diplomatic message to the governor of a province in the Southeastern Earth Kingdom by Aang. 

The conversation in which he’d been convinced to do so had gone something like this. 

“You want me to go all the way down there to deliver a piece of paper?” 

“It’s not just a piece of paper, Sokka. It’s meant to communicate our wishes for long-standing peace between the nations of the world. Especially with what we’re trying to accomplish in the fire nation colonies, we need to make sure everyone is on the same page.” 

_Aang always finds a way to make the most boring things seem important._ Sokka thought. “You know I have a messenger hawk, right? Why can’t we just send him?” 

Aang stared at him. “I haven’t seen him in forever. Do you even know where he is?” 

“Of course I do! What kind of bird dad would I be if I lost him?” The truth was that Sokka had no clue where his hawk was at the present. The last he’d heard, Hawky had been staying with the Beifong family. 

“Well, I still don’t want to send him instead of you. Think about it this way. By delivering it person, we’ll be making it clear how much we personally value diplomacy.” 

Sokka groaned. “Why don’t you take it, then? You are the Avatar, after all.” 

“I’m busy.” Sokka opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by Aang anticipating what he was going to say. “And you know that Katara is too. Toph can’t go either. Although she did ask me to have you scout the area for good locations. She’s thinking of helping to build a new factory there.” 

“Oh great, so I’m her errand boy too.” Sokka griped. “I don’t suppose you want me to pick up some turkey quail dumplings for you while I’m there?” 

“It’s really not like that.” Aang had insisted. “You’re a member of the team, and I know you’re good at getting people to listen to you. Having the governor of the Daodong province as our ally will help us so much in the future. Please?” 

Sokka had complained for another five minutes before giving in. _Maybe it’ll be fun,_ Sokka had thought. _I miss flying places on Appa, and I’ve never been able to travel alone as much as I would have liked._

“Okay, okay.” Sokka agreed. “I’ll go. It should only take me like five or six days each way on Appa, right?” He did the math in his head. “Yeah, that’s right.” 

“Oh.” Aang looked surprised. “You’re not taking Appa.” 

“What? Then how am I getting there?” 

“I figured you would go over land or water.” Aang said hesitantly. “I need Appa for the trip I’m taking to the Fire Nation in a couple of days.” 

That had set off another round of complaints on Sokka’s end, but they hadn’t been enough. He’d agreed to deliver the message. 

Deciding to go over land instead of water had seemed smart when he’d done it, as he’d wanted to stop and make sure that Hawky was indeed safe at the Beifongs’ home. While the short reunion he’d had with his hawk was great, it didn’t do much to compensate for all the extra time it took to get where he was going. 

The reality of the situation was that he had ended up on a tedious journey with an ostrich horse who had dirt for brains. Travelling for an indeterminate amount of time, a lot of the Earth Kingdom blended together. Weeks into the journey, the idea of his trip being an adventure had fallen flat. 

After a cramped ferry ride to the island that contained the province of the governor he was visiting stuffed in next to Tai, Sokka was at least glad to get some fresh air. His destination was only one day of travel left away and that was also working to improve his mood. 

_Hopefully the governor will be rich and have a nice house. Honestly, I’d take anything with a sturdy roof by this point. Oh, and meat! If he has some good meat for me to eat then maybe this trip could be salvaged. I was joking about those turkey quail dumplings to Aang, but I’d probably pounce on them if I saw them now._

Sokka had eaten through his reserves of meat in the first five days and hadn’t been able to find many good options in the villages he’d passed through. That had meant he’d been eating way more vegetables than he would have liked. He didn’t know how Aang did it. Being vegetarian was a worse torture than any Sokka could imagine. 

_I should tell Zuko to try that on all the pro-Ozai fanatics he captures. It’d work wonders._

The ferry had dropped Sokka off at a small set of docks a ways off from the main town, but as he didn’t feel like hoisting himself up onto Tai, he walked beside the ostrich horse instead. Scenery in this part of the Earth Kingdom was much more mountainous, and he walked up over multiple hills before the town came into view. 

Swallowtail Town wasn’t the place where the governor lived. That city was on the other side of the island. However, he’d planned to stop here for the night to rest. Alternating between camping and staying in inns had been fine for most of his trip, but the ferry ride had left him exhausted and aching for the comfort of an actual bed. 

Coming into the town, the first thing that Sokka noticed was the butterflies. A large wooden arch had been erected over the main road, and ornate carvings of butterflies climbed up its sides. It looked old and worn down, but it was clear that it had been beautiful long ago from just a glance. There were small paintings of butterflies on a few of the ramshackle wood and dirt houses too, which all looked as old as the arch. 

The second thing that Sokka noticed was the people. Or, the lack thereof. Almost every house had all of its doors and windows shut, and though it was only late afternoon, the streets were empty as if it was the middle of the night. It was also eerily silent. 

_That’s never a good sign. Creepy little towns like this are always hiding some horrible dark secret. I just hope it’s not another crazy bloodbending witch. I’ve met enough of those for one lifetime. I even have one for a sister._

Tai must have picked up on the strange nature of the town too, because where he usually would have been trying to pull away from Sokka to go lick some spot on the ground, he was staying close. The town was pretty small, but Sokka still wasn’t sure where the inn was, so he made for the center. 

The square in the center of town was desolately empty save for a group of women huddled together and one man with a tight face flipping a coin. The man was leaning against the side of a dirty fountain which should have been the centerpiece of the place, but instead made everything look even poorer. 

“Hi there!” Sokka called out to the women. “Do you know where I might be able to find the inn? I’ve been travelling for so long I think my feet are about to fall off.” 

The women gave him a skittish glance before collectively speeding away from him without responding. Sokka frowned. _I can’t look that filthy from my trip. What’s their problem?_

“They’re not going to talk to you.” The man flipping the coin spoke. “No one here is.” 

Sokka led Tai towards the man, trying not to look too offended. “Is it because I’m Water Tribe? Or are they just too intimidated by how manly I look?” 

“Part of it is because you’re a foreigner.” The man ignored Sokka’s brash joke. “But you’ve come at a bad time. Things aren’t safe around here.” 

Once he was up close to the man, Sokka took in his features. He had a wide nose and hair that went down to his shoulders. He was likely a shopkeeper based off of how he was dressed, but not a wealthy one. His eyes were shrewd and observant. 

_He must see a lot of things. I’m sure he could tell me whatever is wrong with this place and then some. He might even know where I could find some good kebabs._

“What do you mean, not safe?” Sokka questioned. “Everything looks fine to me.” 

“Sure it does.” The man flipped the coin again. “That’s because it hasn’t rained today.” 

Sokka was confused. “Hey, I don’t like getting wet as much as the next guy, but it’s not really something to be afraid of. Besides, it’s the wet season here. Isn’t rain kind of guaranteed?” 

“It’s not that. There’s a spirit that’s been terrorizing our town for weeks now. And it only comes on days when it doesn’t rain.” 

“Yeah, you should have led with that.” Sokka sighed. 

_Spirits. Why did it have to be spirits? See, if Aang had come here himself, he could have dealt with this. I’m really love not to be kidnapped again like what happened with Hei Bai. I should probably just let the villagers sort this one out. Or I could let Aang know when I see him again._

“What do you mean terrorizing?” He asked, if only out of curiosity. “Razing crops, attacking buildings? I haven’t seen any damage.” 

“Not terrorizing like that.” The man said grimly. “It’s kidnapping kids.” 

Sokka’s stomach dropped. “That’s…terrible. How?” 

“I haven’t seen it myself, but people are saying it’s some kind of worm. Crawls so fast across the land that it could snatch you up in the blink of an eye. On days when it doesn’t rain, it comes, takes a kid, and drags it off. So far, they’ve all been girls.” 

“How many has it taken?” 

“Only four so far. We’re lucky that it’s the wet season.” 

“Does the governor know about this?” Sokka asked. “I’m headed to meet him, and I could tell him that something is wrong. I’m sure he would send troops to protect the town.” 

“That bastard Shun Liu? He couldn’t care less about us. We’re barely making ends meet here, and he’s having parties over in his mansion.” The man turned up his nose. “Why are you meeting him?” 

“I’m friends with the Avatar.” Sokka explained. “It’s a diplomatic mission.” 

“Yeah,” The man snorted. “You’re friends with the Avatar. And I’m the Earth King’s second cousin.” 

“I’m serious.” Sokka said. “I was one of the ones who stopped the Fire Lord from taking over the world!” He struck a magnanimous pose. “Hold your applause.” When he got no reaction, he loosened. “Okay, it wouldn’t hurt if you applauded me a little bit.” 

“You must be a waterbender, then? I’d heard that the Avatar saved the world with an earthbender and a waterbender. But I thought the waterbender was a girl…” 

“I can’t bend.” Sokka narrowed his eyes. “Have you really not heard of me? I was a pretty important member of the team. We could have lost the war if not for the plans I made.” 

“Nope. Can’t say I have.” The man clearly didn’t believe him. 

“I helped take down an entire fleet of Fire Nation airships that were going to torch the Earth Kingdom. The designs for those ships were stolen from an original design that I perfected. Really, nothing?” 

He got a frown in response. “You took out a fleet of airships without being able to bend? That’s not possible.” 

Sokka was annoyed but let the topic drop. “Fine, forget it. What’s your deal, being out here? You aren’t scared of being attacked by that crazy spirit?” 

“Like I said, it only takes kids. Besides, I’d like to see it try to hurt me. I would squash it like the pest it is.” The man said confidently. The coin that he had been flipping stopped in midair and hovered there and the ground below them shuddered slightly. It was then that Sokka noticed it wasn’t a coin, but a perfectly rounded and polished piece of rock. 

“You’re an earthbender.” 

_No wonder he’s so stuck-up. He’s probably one of the benders who thinks that he’s better than everyone else just because he can move some dirt._

“Sure am. That worm wouldn’t stand a chance against me.” 

Sokka crossed his arms. “You haven’t managed to stop it before?” 

“I’ve been busy. I’ve been running my shop when it attacked the other times, but when it looked like it wouldn’t rain today, I closed up. I’m tired of everyone living in fear. It’s not good for business.” 

“That’s noble of you.” Sokka couldn’t place it, but something about the man made him uneasy. However, he was the only person in town who had even given him the time of day. “Do you have a spare room or something where I could stay the night? It doesn’t seem like anyone else is feeling that Earth Kingdom hospitality right now, and camping sounds like a bad idea with the rogue spirit on the loose.” 

The man let the coin-shaped rock fall back into his hand. “What’s your name, kid?” 

Bristling at being called a kid when he was going on twenty years old, Sokka answered. “It’s Sokka. And you?” 

“Lei.” He looked at Sokka for a moment longer. “Alright, you can have my storage room for a night. But I want you to help me with something.” 

“What?” Sokka asked warily. 

“I want you to help me catch that spirit and kill it.” 

_Kill a spirit? That’s horrible. On the other hand, I get that the people here aren’t eager to try and reason with it either. Hm. If I could figure out why it was angry, maybe I could fix things. I’m not the bridge between the human and spirit worlds, but I’m Sokka from the Water Tribe, and that’s about the next best thing._

“Why are you asking me for help? Weren’t you just calling me a useless non-bender a minute ago?” 

Lei raised an eyebrow. “I never said that. You look like you can handle yourself. I mean, you can throw that thing, right?” He gestured at Sokka’s boomerang on his back. 

“Duh. I’ve pretty much mastered the art of the boomerang.” He grinned. 

“Great. Then you can help me kill the spirit. No one else around here is strong enough to stand up to it, and I’m not going to let it keep rampaging.” 

“I’ll help you figure out why it’s angry.” Sokka said, careful not to agree directly to any fighting. “Y’know, I’m sort of a detective. There was this one time with my friends and a two-hundred-year-old murder case and the ghost of Avatar Kyoshi…” 

Lei gave him a look. “Do all people from the Water Tribe lie this much?” 

Sokka suppressed a groan. “Never mind. I left the detective hat at home anyways.” 

_I knew I should have brought it! Figures that when I actually need it to do some good old-fashioned detecting, I don’t have it._

“Whatever you say, kid. C’mon, I’ll take you to my shop.” 

Sokka and Tai followed Lei out of the square down one of the main roads. Somehow, the houses began looking even more worn down. “You said you have a store. What do you sell?” 

“All kinds of things.” Lei responded. “General goods, weapons, artifacts.” 

“Weapons?” Sokka’s mind shot to his meteor sword. 

_That sword was the love of my life! Other than Suki, obviously. And now it’s laying in some ditch somewhere in the Earth Kingdom. I could use a new one. The one I brought with me is fine, but it doesn’t fit the same way my old one did._

“Yeah, weapons. Why? Are you looking for a new boomerang?” 

“No.” Sokka said in a faux-offended tone. “This one will do. A sword, though. A sword is something that I could be persuaded to buy.” 

“Sure, I have swords. What kind of sword?” 

“Do you have anything in the ‘crafted from a meteor’ variety?” 

“No.” Lei gave him a strange look. 

“That’s fine. I’ll know something that I want to buy if I see it. You think I could get a discount, now that we’re all friendly?” 

“I don’t do discounts.” Lei answered curtly. 

“You couldn’t even give me a coupon for agreeing to help you face a deadly, child-napping spirit?” Sokka asked. 

“I’m giving you a place to sleep. That’s more than enough.” 

“Ugh, fine.” 

When they arrived at Lei’s shop, Sokka tied Tai to a post out front and gave the ostrich horse a pat. The animal still seemed skittish, as if it was waiting for something to go wrong. 

_I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same way._

Once he entered the building, his worries fell to the wayside and he was immediately drawn in. The place had an air of history, with pieces of old Fire Nation armor hanging on the walls and expensive-looking Earth Kingdom paintings behind glass. Random jars of pickled vegetables and bags of grain were stacked around the store as well. “It must have taken you forever to collect all this.” Sokka said in admiration. 

“It wasn’t easy.” Lei agreed. “But I have the best antiques on the island. Even better than any of the tacky shops in the governor’s city.” 

“No kidding.” Sokka picked up a tiny figurine of a platypus-bear and toyed with it. “I’ll drop my stuff here, but then we should leave to start looking for clues.” 

“Clues?” 

“Yeah. If we want to figure out why the spirit is angry, we’ll have to assemble some evidence and create a theory. It’s pretty basic detective activity.” 

“I don’t know where you got the idea that we’d be doing that. I asked for your help so we could kill it.” Lei said, bothered. “And don’t play with the merchandise unless you’re planning on buying.” 

“Sorry.” Sokka set the figurine down. “I’m just saying, we should do some research before it shows up. If you know your enemy, it’s easier to beat.” 

“That makes sense.” Lei begrudgingly agreed. “The storage room is back here.” 

Sokka put his things away under the small cot that had already been set up in the back room and then straightened up. Lei had been watching him with an intent gaze, but looked away as Sokka made eye contact. 

_That’s freaky. But maybe he’s just making sure I don’t have sticky fingers._

“So…” Sokka mulled over where to start. “Have there been any other spirits in the area recently? Or any big changes to the environment in the area?” 

“No changes, no. No other spirits either. Although there used to be one here a long time ago.” Lei had settled behind the counter of his shop on a stool he clearly spent a lot of time on. 

Sokka sat down in a chair that was somewhat close to Lei. “Tell me about it.” 

“You should ask before you sit anywhere.” Lei frowned at him. “That chair is an antique.” 

“It looks pretty ugly to me.” Sokka commented. “How much could I mess it up just by sitting in it? Y’know, people are more likely to buy stuff if you let them try it out.” 

“The man I bought that from told me that Lu Beifong died in that chair.” 

Standing up quickly, Sokka yelped. “Is it haunted or something?” 

_I would rather not piss off one of Toph’s ancestors. If they were anything like her, they would probably give me a beatdown from beyond the grave._

“No. But like I said, it’s an antique and it’s fragile.” 

Choosing to stand over trying to sit in any other possibly haunted chairs in the shop, Sokka returned to the subject. “The spirit that used to live here?” 

“Did you see the butterflies on the way in?” 

“Yes.” 

“That was the spirit that used to visit us and bless us with good luck and plenty when the winds came in from the North. At least, that’s what my grandfather used to tell me. I’ve never seen it myself. It abandoned us a long time ago.” Lei sounded bitter. 

“I’m sure it didn’t mean to.” Sokka said. “Maybe it went away because of the war?” 

“I don’t see why it would have. The Fire Nation never even came to our island. We weren’t worth their time.” Lei gritted his teeth. 

“Not being worth their time is better than having to face down their navy.” Sokka said. “The worm spirit only started showing up recently, though?” 

Lei nodded. “At first, we all thought it was something that the family of the first child who was taken had done to offend the spirits. By the third one, it was obvious that it was more serious.” 

“Do you know anyone that we could talk to who’s seen it?” Sokka questioned. “Or are they not going to want to talk to us?” 

“We could go visit one of the mothers of the taken. She wouldn’t speak to you alone, you being a stranger and all.” Lei sat up taller. “Me, on the other hand, I’m a local business leader and a valued member of the community. Plus, I know her personally. I’m sure that we could all have a pleasant conversation.” 

“A pleasant conversation about her missing kid?” Sokka tilted his head. 

Lei stared at him. “I’m starting to think that we’ll be better off the less you talk.” 

Thirty minutes later, they were standing in front of an unassuming house on the outskirts of town. Though it was as dirt-stained and old as its neighbors, it also boasted a row of blooming yellow flowers right by the door. Whoever lived there clearly cared about putting effort into how it looked. 

_Brace yourself, Sokka. There’s no telling how grief-stricken or emotional this woman could be. She might even be on the verge of losing it. What mother wouldn’t lose it a bit if their kid was taken by a crazy worm spirit?_

Emotional women freaked Sokka out. He’d had a lot of experience dealing with his sister when she got in her moods, but that was different. She was his sister. With anyone else, it felt like he was walking through a mine field. And Sokka had never been good at treading lightly in a conversation. Sometimes his thoughts slipped out of his mouth before they could stop them. 

Lei opened the door without knocking and Sokka followed him in after a moment’s hesitation. “Howin! Are you here, you old bag?” Lei yelled callously. 

“Lei!” A voice called out from a room further into the house. “It’s about time you showed up. I’ve made enough food for an army, and I need someone to eat it. Come in here!” 

Sokka glanced at Lei. “I didn’t know we were making a stop before we went to visit the mother. I never thought I would say this, but some things are more important than food. Like missing kids.” 

“What are you talking about?” Lei asked, irritated. “This is her.” 

As they entered the kitchen, Sokka assessed the woman that Lei had called Howin. She was short but had a commanding presence. Though she had a few gray hairs, wrinkles were nowhere to be seen on her face. She obviously took immense pride in her appearance. “You brought a friend? A Water Tribe friend? I didn’t know oddballs like you had any friends, Lei. Especially not ones of the foreign variety.” 

Lei rolled his eyes. “Howin, this is Sokka. He just got into town, but he’s agreed to help me track and kill the worm spirit.” 

Howin sized Sokka up. “Quite the strapping young man, aren’t you? I do wish that my Bao could find a nice boyfriend like you instead of sticking her nose into those damn books all the time! Why, I’m sure you’ve got a beautiful girlfriend who relies on you for everything!” 

Sokka was unsure what to say. He felt like he’d been transported into some kind of alternate reality. “Um, I think my girlfriend is more capable than I am, actually.” 

Howin smiled and gestured for them to come into the kitchen. “And you’re modest too! Yes, Bao would do well to find someone like you! She seems to think that all the answers to life are in her stories.” 

“Whereas you seem to think they’re hidden in noodle soup.” Lei muttered, referring to the gigantic steaming pot resting on top of the stove. It easily could have fed half of the group of warriors Sokka’s dad had taken from the South Pole during the war, if not more. 

“Quiet.” Howin scolded him. “Sit, and we’ll talk. Why did the two of you come by?” 

“To ask you about the worm spirit. Your daughter was one of the ones who were taken, right?” Sokka questioned. The woman seemed so perfectly normal emotionally that it was hard to believe she was missing a child. 

“She was.” Howin nodded. “And to be frank, I think if she read a few less books, she wouldn’t have been a target. Everyone knows that spirits like the taste of brainy people more.” 

“Spirits don’t eat people.” Sokka responded, half-stunned that the woman was speaking so casually. “At least not any of the spirits I’ve ever met.”

“You’ve met others?” Howin made an impressed gasping sound. “You must be so well-travelled. It’s a good thing to you decided to stop and help. What kinds of things have you seen?”

“Well, there was this one black and white spirit named Hei Bai who dragged me into the spirit world. My friend was able to get me out because he’s the Avatar. Oh, and there was this crazy owl living in a library under the desert who tried to kill me. I probably could have beaten him in a one-on-one, but the library started collapsing. I guess most spirits I’ve met haven’t been super friendly, now that I think about it. But I’m pretty sure they didn’t eat people.”

“You’re friends with…the Avatar?” Howin looked back and forth between Lei and Sokka searching for some confirmation.

Lei laughed harshly and dug in to the bowl of noodle soup that Howin set in front of him. “He has a mind for tall tales, Howin. Ignore him.”

“It’s not a tall tale! You guys really need to work on how you get your news here. I’m practically famous anywhere else I go.”

“That’s wonderful, dear.” Howin nodded. She didn’t believe him.

Lei slurped his noodles loudly. “Can you tell us what the worm spirit looked like? I know how you have a way with details.” 

Howin grinned. “You flatter me, Lei.” Turning to Sokka, she gave him a bowl of soup and leaned in conspiratorially. “You and I have something in common. I’m known around town for my vivacious storytelling.” 

“Gossip.” Lei refuted. 

“You make it sound so pedestrian.” Howin sighed. “Anyways, I really should start from the beginning. I was coming back from the market with Liqin Huang, who was telling me about how her husband caught some horrible kind of fungus. Apparently, it’s eating away at his foot, and they’re worried they’ll have to cut it off! I told her that I could make her herbal remedies to beat anything they would sell in the marketplace, but the silly girl refused. She said that they would be fine. I had to hold my tongue. I almost told her to tell her husband to say goodbye to his foot for me!” 

“The worm spirit, Howin.” Lei prodded. 

“Hey, that was getting good.” Sokka complained. 

“I didn’t even tell you the most shocking part, dear. After she refused me offer, I started thinking. Why would she not want some of my flawless remedies? There’s only one reason. They’re faking it.”

“Why would they fake him having a fungus on his foot?” Sokka was quickly enthralled in the petty rumor.

“For attention. Or because her husband is a lazy pig who needs an excuse not to show up at work in the fields. I have half a mind to tell everyone else of their deception!”

Lei cut in, annoyed. “We’re not here to listen to this kind of stuff.” He shot Sokka a stink eye. “Tell us about the spirit, Howin.”

Sokka shrugged sheepishly and said to Lei, “Sorry. It was interesting.”

“Hm, the spirit.” Howin muttered. “Dear, you wouldn’t know this, but my Bao was the third one taken. We hadn’t figured out that the spirit was coming on days without rain until after her. You know, I take a good deal of credit for that discovery myself. I said to that unsightly man who runs the general store, I said, all of the kidnappings have come on dry days. Then he goes to the town council and acts like he came up with it all! Could you imagine?” 

“No. That’s so rude. If I were you, I would have told him where he could shove it!” Sokka answered enthusiastically.

“Aiyah! It’s so nice to have someone actually listen to me!” Howin exclaimed. “Half the time, I think Lei just pretends to pay attention to me because he wants to get his hands on my mother’s rare emerald beetle broach.” 

“Who? Me? Never.” Lei said unconvincingly. 

“Can you just tell us what the spirit looked like, ma’am? And how it acted? Did you see what direction it went after it took your daughter?” Sokka asked. 

“Oh please, don’t call me ma’am. I’m not that old, you know! I had Bao when I was only twenty.” 

Sokka furrowed his brow. “I thought Bao was just a kid.” 

“Yes, she is. She’s only fourteen years old.” 

“Then you’re…” Sokka trailed off. 

“Thirty-four. Well, I’ll be thirty-five by the end of the wet season.” Howin pushed her hair up theatrically like she was trying to prove her youth. “Can’t you tell?” 

“Um, no.” Sokka said back. “I thought you were like at least fif-” 

Lei spoke before Sokka could finish. He had clearly heard this particular lie many times before. “What he means is that you look even younger. Now, the spirit?” 

“I was getting there, Lei! And dear, eat some soup. It’s getting cold.” Howin ordered. 

Sokka tasted a spoonful to find that it was disgusting. It was difficult to describe the flavor exactly, but he imagined it was pretty close to how the water around the river village of Jang Hui had tasted before it he and his friends had cleaned it up.

“By the time I got close to home, Liqin had gone home to her disgusting, lazy husband. The spirit showed up right as I was walking up to the steps,” Howin said dramatically, as if telling a ghost story. “Bao was on the stoop reading some book and just as I was going to tell her to put it away and go get the kitchen ready to make dinner, it came out of nowhere. It was huge! I dropped everything I had bought. I was so shocked. I remember looking into its eyes. They were a blood red color, and they looked so evil.” 

“Where did it come from? The ground? The sky?” Sokka tried to get her to clarify. 

“I’m not sure. It just sort of appeared. Spirits do that, don’t they?” 

Sokka thought back to all of his spirit-related encounters in the past. “I think so.” 

“That’s what it did, then. I was frozen, and it was all I could do not to pass out as I watched it take her. As soon as it barreled into her and she touched it, it was like she was stuck to it. She was yelling at me to do something, but I couldn’t.” A shred of raw emotion broke through Howin’s composed storytelling. It was the first glimpse of the distraught mother Sokka had expected. As quickly as it showed up, it was gone, and Howin was back to the neighborhood gossiper she had established herself as. “I overheard that tramp who lives above the restaurant by the town square saying that she thought it was my fault Bao was taken. My fault! As if I was supposed to stop a ten-ton rampaging spirit with my bare hands!” 

“It was that big?” Sokka followed up. 

“How should I know, dear? I didn’t have a scale on hand. I was only guessing. You know how it is, though. Just because I’m not sobbing and snotting everywhere like the other mothers who have had their girls taken, I’m in the wrong.” 

“And,” Sokka cleared his throat, trying to rid it of the taste of the noodle soup. “Why aren’t you sobbing and snotting everywhere, again? Getting Bao taken away must be very upsetting. You seem to be holding up really well.” 

“Sure, it’s upsetting. But when I spoke with my fortune teller, she told me that my daughter would be returned to me safely, which means I have nothing to worry about. She also mentioned a stranger guiding her way home. Maybe that’s you! Oh, you don’t know anyone you could introduce her to, do you? I would be so grateful.” 

Lei, who had finished his soup by some miracle, spoke. “Howin. Can you tell us anything more about the spirit itself? We’re trying to kill it, not get your daughter a boyfriend.” 

Howin made an angry sniffing sound. “I feed you, and this is how you act? Your mother didn’t spank you nearly enough as a boy, Lei.” 

“It would be really helpful if you could tell us anything else you remember.” Sokka tried. 

_She might have been able to scare the spirit away if she’d just talked at it._

“Alright. Since you asked nicely. It seemed less like a worm and more like a giant bug. It had little legs that worms don’t have. Last I checked, worms don’t have eyes either. Not that I’ve ever checked. I hate bugs or vermin of any kind.” 

“A bug?” Sokka crossed his arms. “What kind of bug?” 

“I just told you, I’m no expert on anything that creeps and crawls. Now, if you wanted to know about the affair Wen Zhang is having with his secretary, then I could help you!” 

Lei pushed his chair back. “I think we’re all good, Howin. Thank you for the soup.” 

“You’re leaving already?” Howin frowned. “Take some soup with you. I’ll pack it up.” 

“We don’t have time.” Lei responded. “It hasn’t rained yet today, which means your creepy-crawly friend is due for a return visit.” 

Howin’s face paled. “Aiyah, I’d forgotten. You will kill it, won’t you? And find my Bao?” 

Sokka smiled at her. “We will. Do one of those things. The second one. We’ll find your daughter. You don’t have anything to worry about.” 

“Oh, good!” Howin came around the table as Sokka got up and gave him an overly lengthy hug. Sokka thought he noticed her trying to squeeze the muscles on his arm. “Do me a favor, though. When you do find my daughter, be kind to her. It’s not often she gets attention from such handsome boys. I worry about her future, you know. When I was her age, I never would have let books come before boys.” 

“I’ll do my best.” Sokka pried himself away and made for the door. 

“Oh, Howin?” Lei asked as he stood to leave. He made it sound like he was remembering something off the top of his head. 

“The emerald beetle broach isn’t for sale, Lei.” Howin shut him down before he could ask. “Nice try, though.” 

Lei cursed under his breath. “Let’s go, kid.” 

“Bye, boys!” Howin waved after them as they exited. 

As soon as they were out on the street, Sokka turned to Lei. “Why did we go there? We barely know any more than we did when we started. And no offense to her, but that soup tasted awful.” 

Lei shrugged. “For all her annoying qualities and her bad cooking, I knew that she wouldn’t be grieving like the other parents. The others wouldn’t have talked to us.” 

“The parents have been the only witnesses of these attacks?” 

“No.” Lei gestured at the empty street in front of them. “But no one else is going to admit that they saw anything either. They think that it’s bad luck to speak about it.” 

Superstition was something that lurked everywhere in the world, as the desires of the spirits were hard to determine, and no one wanted to offend them. However, Sokka was bothered by the townspeople’s behavior. “Are they just hoping that it’ll go away, then? That’s stupid. Nothing is going to change unless someone makes the effort to do something!” 

“Which is why you and I are doing something.” Lei started walking. 

“Where are we going now?” 

“The town square. It’s situated in a way that when the spirit shows up, we’ll likely be able to figure out where it is. You can see most of town from there since it's in the center.” 

“Really? Isn’t it hard to see over the buildings?” 

“I’m an earthbender. Remember?” Lei asked haughtily. “I can raise myself up.” 

“And I’ll watch the ground. Fun.” Sokka sighed and walked faster to keep up with Lei’s pace. “Going on watch for a dangerous spirit really wasn’t how I wanted to spend tonight.” 

“You agreed to this, and it’s not like there’s anything else to do in town. Be happy I’m providing you some excitement.” 

“I hoped for that when I set out on my journey, but I’m starting to realized that it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Sokka grumbled. “I’d rather have a soft bed and some good seal jerky.” 

“Blech.” Lei grimaced. “That stuff tastes like shit.” 

“It does not!” Sokka cried. “Maybe your taste buds aren’t attuned to the delicacy.” 

“My taste buds are fine.” 

“Wait, I thought you said you hadn’t met many Water Tribe people. Where did you get seal jerky?” 

“On a trip to Ba Sing Se I took some years ago, there was a stand selling it.” Lei explained. 

Sokka hit his palm to his forehead. “There’s your issue! That’s not real seal jerky. Especially if you got it from the lower ring. Most of the food there has an aftertaste of dirt.” 

“I didn’t realize that me not liking it would offend you so much.” Lei said drily. 

“I’m not offended.” Sokka assured him. “I’m just very passionate about food. As everyone rightfully should be. Ooh, have you ever tried flaming fire flakes?” 

“No.” Lei grunted. “You talk more than I thought you would.” 

“Well, one of has to.” Sokka said. “Can you imagine how boring this would be if we were both the strong, silent type?” 

“I’m the strong, silent type?” 

“That might be an exaggeration. But you’re no Howin, if you know what I mean.” 

Lei actually cracked a small smile at that. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” 

“Stoic people are pretty hit and miss.” Sokka continued. “This guy who tried to kill me and my friends for a while turned out to be really nice once I got to know him.” 

“Do your friends include the Avatar?” Lei asked. He was clearly making fun of Sokka. 

“I’ll have you know that they do.” Sokka turned his nose up. “And do you know who the guy chasing us was?” 

“Hell, I don’t know.” Lei played along. “The Fire Lord?” 

“Nope! He was the Fir-How did you guess that?” Sokka squawked in surprise. 

“Wasn’t hard. Just had to think of the thing that was furthest from the truth. That big mouth is going to get you in trouble someday, kid.” 

“My big mouth is one of my best assets.” Sokka shot back. “One time, I managed to fit thirteen fried shrimp balls in there at once! A record that has yet to beaten.” 

“That is in no way what I meant.” Lei was about to continue before a loud crash stopped him. “It’s here.” 

They hadn’t made it to the square yet, but that didn’t matter to Lei. He stomped the ground and Sokka watched as he rose into the air on a jagged pillar of earth. The ground shook. “Do you see it?” Sokka yelled, pulling his sword from his belt. 

_I should have looked for a new sword before going into this fight. This thing feels too light in my hands. Not to mention that it’s a bit dull. Can a sword even stab a spirit?_ Sokka gulped. _If this goes well, I won’t need to find out._

“Follow me!” Lei responded, and jumped off his pillar of earth. A new one rose up to meet his feet before he could fall too far. He ran forward with no abandon, leaving columns almost as tall as the houses next to them behind. 

“This is definitely some kind of fire hazard.” Sokka grumbled as he ran after Lei, dodging the pillars of earth. After he turned a tight corner, Lei came back into his field of vision. Sokka was way behind him, but Lei looked to be going in a straight line down a wider road. He wasn’t going to fall far back enough to get lost.

Then, Sokka saw it. It was past Lei, skittering across the ground at a remarkable speed. Though, skittering might not have been the right word for what the spirit was doing. Creatures twice the size of flying bison didn’t really skitter. 

_How long is that thing? Oh, and he’s launching rocks at it._

The so-called ‘worm spirit’ wasn’t very aptly named. Even with his view partially obscured and blurred by motion Sokka could tell that it leaned more into being a bug like Howin had said. A light green color covered most of the body, that was broken up by striking black stripes. Inside the black stripes were lopsided yellow circles. Sokka wasn’t a bug expert, but it seemed like a message saying ‘don’t mess with me’. 

_Is it too late to hang back and leave the giant bug-killing to someone who can bend a giant rock to crush it? I’m out of my element. No pun intended. Ugh, why is it that I come up the best stuff when no one’s around to hear it?_

His eyes caught an odd shape on the side of the spirit’s body that didn’t match the pattern. Then he understood what it was. It was the kid that the spirit was attempting to abduct. The girl was adhered to the side of the spirit like a spiderfly in honey. 

_We must have showed up right after it got her. I can’t hang back._

Sokka picked up his speed as he realized that the road they were going down was directed out of town. If the spirit got into the foothills of the mountains, it would be impossible for them to pursue it. He couldn’t let another kid be taken. 

It was a good thing that all the residents of the town were sheltered inside, because Lei was dealing a good amount of collateral damage. His earthbending had none of the reserved elements of his personality. Attacking first and thinking later wasn’t really Sokka’s style, and he was reinforced in this belief as he saw one of the chunks of rock Lei had thrown miss the spirit and shoot through the wall of a house. 

There was no time to stop and check on the residents of the place, as the spirit was getting even closer to the edge of town. However, Sokka was gaining on Lei and the spirit. His sword was useless at this range, but he was now close enough that he had another option. “Boomerang, do your thing.” He breathed heavily and launched it with all his might.

As soon as it left his hand, he knew that it wouldn’t hit where he wanted it to. He had been aiming for where he thought the creature’s eyes were. They weren’t the giant easy target that Howin had claimed they would be, so most of Sokka’s aim had been guesswork. The combination of him and his target being on the move messed him up, and Lei being in his way didn’t help either. 

The boomerang arced forward and hit the side of the spirit before it had even started on its return journey. Most of its impact came directly from the force of Sokka’s throw. While it didn’t hurt the spirit at all, it did throw it off. The rampaging bug veered to the side and into a tree in confusion. That did manage to stun it for a moment. They had stopped it right before it had escaped the town. 

“I’ve got you now!” Lei screamed, and thrust his hands upwards. A piece of earth almost as big as the giant spirit itself rose up, leaving a giant gash in the road, and Sokka could see Lei struggling to maneuver it. 

“Hold on!” Sokka called up to him. “Don’t hurt it!” 

“Stupid kid!” Lei gritted through his teeth. “It needs to die!” 

“Are you blind? There’s a girl stuck to the side of it! If you crush the spirit, you’ll crush her too!” The sloppy yet brutal style in which Lei bent disturbed Sokka. Lei was so focused on ridding the world of the spirit, he would forego caution or compassion. It vaguely reminded Sokka of how Jet had been upon their first meeting.

Lei hesitated before he responded, and that gave the spirit time to recover from the collision with the tree and start moving again. Frustrated, Lei let the earth he was holding aloft drop. It narrowly missed Sokka, and kicked up a huge cloud of dust. 

“Maybe you are blind!” Sokka shouted in frustration. Then he thought of Toph. “I take it back. Even a blind person could bend better than you.” 

But Lei was no longer listening. He’d continued his pursuit of the spirit. Sokka could see it was pointless by then. The bug had made it to the open fields outside of town and was going even faster than it had been before. Lei couldn’t keep up, and faltered when the spirit disappeared into a copse of trees. 

Sokka took note of the direction it was running off in. That was about all he could do. They had failed to stop the spirit, and it seemed like they’d failed to find any meaningful clues as to why it was doing what it was. 

_That poor kid. She must be so scared._

An image shot through Sokka’s head. The image of how the situation would have gone if his friends had been there. Aang might have been able to calm it down before things ever got violent. And if they had gotten violent, Toph and Katara could have easily handled it. If Zuko had been there, a few well-placed fire blasts would have stopped the bug in its tracks. Sokka wasn’t sure what Suki would have done, but knew that it would have been both beautifully graceful and scarily effective. In this image he’d conjured to his mind, he couldn’t find a place for himself. He was the boomerang guy, the plan guy, and the guy who cracked jokes. 

Jokes and plans couldn’t stop a rampaging spirit, and as he’d just seen, a boomerang couldn’t do much either. He was useless in the situation, a feeling he was far too familiar with. 

_Useless or not, I’m still responsible for what happened. I might not be able to start fires or whip up tornadoes with my hands, but I can use what I do have to fix this. I know I can._

Sokka was pulled out of his thoughts when Lei came stomping back to him, still on his makeshift earth stilts. “What the hell were you thinking? You let it get away!” 

“I didn’t let it get away!” Sokka protested, leaning down to pick up his boomerang off of the ground. “You were trying to bring down a boulder on that girl! And what makes you think that hurting the spirit wouldn’t just make things worse?” 

“If I remember correctly, you agreed to help me kill it, kid.” Lei spat, as he lowered himself down. “And all you did was get in the way. It’s your fault that it got away.” 

“You would really rather let someone die than let it escape?” Sokka felt like he was talking to a wall. 

“I would rather protect the rest of the children in this village and make sure that we never have to worry about attacks again!” 

“I guess you asked the wrong person for help, then.” Sokka was disgusted. He turned and began to walk away. 

“You’re leaving? I should have known. You’re a coward. Staying out of things because you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Just like how your Water Tribe brethren hid away and let the people of the Earth Kingdom die for them for a hundred years.” 

Sokka stopped. “You’ve only known me for a few hours. You don’t know anything about me, and from how you’re speaking, you clearly don’t know anything about my tribe. I’m not a coward.” 

“Yet I’m watching you run away.” Lei snorted. 

“I’m not running away.” Sokka said. “I just won’t help you because you only seem to care about violence. What happens when you kill it? The kids it took aren’t going to magically appear back here.” 

“Shut up.” Lei scowled. Sokka had hit a nerve. 

_What is he doing this for? Why is it so personal to him? It could be revenge, but I don’t feel like that’s it. Revenge for what? No, it seems more like a duty. He has a duty to kill it. But again, why?_

Sokka waved a hand loosely at Lei. “I need to think. Can I still stay in your spare room, or are you going to kick me out because I wasn’t stabby enough for you?” His voice was sharp. 

Lei waited some time before answering. It was long enough that Sokka almost started walking again. Right as he was going to, Lei said, “You can stay. But I want you out in the morning.” 

“Great.” Sokka muttered. “Thank you.” 

As he went back to Lei’s shop alone, he could feel the ache in his body. Sprinting as fast as he could after a long day of travel hadn’t left him with an abundance of energy. His mind, however, was working at full speed. 

There was a piece of the puzzle that wasn’t clicking. The mystery he was trying to solve wasn’t linear and simple. Spirits were never easy to understand. 

_From what Aang has said, they can even be a mystery to him. If the Avatar has trouble figuring out their wishes, I’m not going to have it any easier._

Still, Sokka’s gut told him that the missing piece was something he could deduce. 

_They call it the worm spirit, but it looks like a bug. It only takes girls for some reason. It took the last girl Northeast into the mountains, which is probably in the direction of where it has the other ones. A cave, maybe?_

Though he was so deep in thought he was barely registering what he saw, he did notice when his eyes glazed over a faded carving of a butterfly in the wooden exterior of one of the houses he passed. 

_The butterfly! That must be connected somehow. It’s been missing ever since the war started, and Lei said it used to visit when winds were coming from the North. The other spirit went North too. Is there is spiritual area in the mountains between this town and the sea? No, Lei would have mentioned that._

It hit Sokka out of nowhere. Suddenly, the pieces he needed to form a conclusion slid into place. He was a bit embarrassed he hadn’t thought of it earlier.

_The butterfly spirit from a hundred years ago and the bug spirit that’s taking the girls are the same! And it’s not just any bug, it’s a caterpillar! The butterfly must have regressed somehow. And that means that it’s still good on the inside. Something just needs to be done to appease it and to help it get back where it needs to be._

_But it left when the war started. Why would it start coming to abduct girls now? Sokka sighed. I really wish Aang was here. He could have even met the spirit himself when he was young! The way he talks about his life back then, he had friends everywhere._

_Wait._

_The war starting wasn’t the only thing that happened a hundred years ago. It was also when all the airbenders were killed. I still don’t know about what’s in those mountains between this town and the sea, but there’s one place that I know for sure would fit the bill of ‘spiritual hub to the North’._

Sokka made it to the shop and was glad to find the door had been left unlocked. He would have hated to have to wait for Lei to let him in. He gave Tai, who was still tied to the post in front of the shop, a quick pat before he went in. As soon as he entered, his eyes swept the room. He didn’t see what he was looking for. 

_He has all this junk, and he can’t even be bothered to stock a map?_

Sokka searched the wall of products by the paintings on display and came up empty handed. Nothing was by the armor and weapons either, though he’d expected that. He was careful with what he touched, knowing Lei would notice if he moved anything. In the end, the first map that he found was buried under a stack of knockoff fans like the ones the Kyoshi warriors used.

He rolled it open and broke out in a wide grin when his eyes found what he was looking for. “Bingo.” He muttered. 

Tracing his thumb over the delicate illustration of his new destination, his heart felt slightly lighter. He knew what he had to do, and that helped. The decision to go wasn’t much of a decision at all. 

_I’m going to go to the Eastern Air Temple and find the girls that the spirit took. I’m going to fix this. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to fix the spirit too. The finer details? I’ll figure them out on the way._

Alone in the shop, he spoke to himself to give his words more of a sense of weight. “I can do this. I’m not the Avatar and I can’t talk to spirits. I can’t even bend. But you don’t need to be able to bend to do the right thing. This is my problem now.” 

Sokka had never dealt with a threat quite like this without friends by his side, but it wasn’t the first time he’d faced danger alone. When fighting by yourself, he knew that you needed to be brave to the point of stupidity. The kind of bravery he’d showed years ago when he’d stood alone against a still hatred-filled Zuko to protect his home would get him through this trial. 

_And if it doesn’t? Then I’ll die trying._

*** 

Sokka woke up early the next day. If possible, he wanted to avoid seeing Lei as he packed his stuff and left. After he had his stuff ready, he walked out into the store as quietly as he could. Unfortunately, Lei was already up and sitting at his stool. 

“You’re leaving?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” Sokka frowned.

“Yes. But before you did, I wanted to ask you to reconsider. I gathered a group of men together last night, and we agreed to go into the mountains today to try and track it.”

“Why would I do that? I made it perfectly clear yesterday how I felt about your methods. I’m not going to help you kill it.”

“Hmph. I see now that I was right about you.”

Sokka rolled his eyes. “Congratulations.”

“You never did get that sword you wanted.” Lei mused. “You wouldn’t be inclined to buy anything before you left, would you?”

“I’m good. Thank you.” Sokka moved to leave.

“Wait! I was going to show you a blade that I thought would fit you. It’s amazingly crafted. If you agreed to help my group of concerned citizens search for the spirit, I could lower the price for you.”

“I thought that you said you didn’t do discounts.”

“I’m making an exception.”

“Buddy, no sword is going to make me reconsid-” Sokka stopped mid-sentence when Lei reached below the counter and pulled out one of the most striking swords he had ever seen.

The blade was flat and wide, as was typical of the ones in the Earth Kingdom, but the metal was what stood out. It was a pale color of gold with flecks of black and grey. On the handle, a single character had been carved with painstaking care. It read ‘Fearlessness’.

“Beautiful, right? I bought it off a visiting nobleman from the mainland. His family had fallen on hard times, and I was all too glad to help him by taking it off his hands for a fair price.”

Sokka stepped closer involuntarily. “You would let me have that?”

_It wouldn’t be as good as my space sword, but it looks like a pretty awesome alternative._

“If you came with my group into the mountains. I sense that you would be a greater help than many would anticipate.”

For a moment, Sokka faltered. Maybe it would make things easier if he had a crew of able men with him when he went to the Air Temple. Backup could never hurt, could it? But then he remembered the cold look on Lei’s face as he’d held the giant chunk of earth over the spirit and the attached girl with his earthbending. 

He slowly shook his head. “No. I appreciate it, but I won’t be coming with you to hurt that spirit.”

“It’s your loss.”

Sokka stared at the sword, reluctant to leave it behind. “How much is it? Maybe I could afford it without the discount.”

“If you won’t help me, it isn’t for sale.”

“Fine.” Sokka groaned. “Can’t you let me look at it a little longer, though? Can I hold it?”

“Sure.” Lei smirked. He probably thought that holding it would change Sokka’s mind. It wouldn’t, but Sokka needed to know how it felt to hold.

He lifted it and was dismayed to find that it fit his grip perfectly. The weight was just right as well. He gave it an experimental jab in the air. “What’s it made out of?” 

“A rare metal exclusive to one region of the Earth Kingdom. It’s one of the strongest materials in the known world.”

“Do you know who crafted this sword?”

“That information could be persuaded out of me after an agreement to help me and a purchase.” Lei said flatly.

“Geez, you drive a hard bargain.” Sokka said. 

_Or you’re just greedy._

“Does that mean you’ll help?” Lei’s eyebrows shot up. He had mistaken what Sokka had said for an affirmation of his assistance.

“No.” Sokka set the sword back down. “Good luck, though.”

Lei’s face hardened. “Get out, then.”

“I’m already gone.” Sokka raised his hands and walked away. He was almost out the door when his eye caught the tapestry on the side wall, and he took a second to process what he was seeing. It looked identical to one that he’d seen when first visited the Southern Air Temple years ago. On it, a herd of sky bison were playfully circling around the heavenly figure of Avatar Yangchen. He turned back to Lei. “Where did you get that?”

“What?”

“That tapestry on the wall. The one with Yangchen in it.”

Lei’s eyes narrowed and he shifted in his seat. “I bought it from a merchant.”

“Liar.” The word left Sokka’s mouth before he could stop it. He knew that Lei was lying. He also knew that the tapestry couldn’t be the only air nomad artifact Lei had in the store. And lastly, he finally understood why Lei was so intent on killing the bug spirit. “You took it from the air temple, didn’t you? That’s why the spirit is so angry.”

“How did you…?” Lei looked furious at being found out. 

“How much other stuff did you take?” Sokka stepped forward boldly. “You asshole! You’re the reason why those girls aren’t home with their parents!”

“I am not responsible for that.” Lei stood up. “The spirit is. That’s why I’m going to kill it!”

“No, you’re going to kill it because you feel guilty!” Sokka shot back. It all made sense to him now. “Did you ever even care about the missing girls? I bet you just wanted to make sure that it wasn’t going to come for you.”

“Shut your mouth.” Lei growled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Really? Because it’s all pretty obvious.” Sokka pointed an accusatory finger. “You’re a greedy man who would put money before other people’s lives. You guessed that there were some relics you could loot from the temple and sell, and you never thought about why it was wrong. Then, when there were consequences, you didn’t want to own up to them.”

“Shut up!” Lei slammed his fist on the counter, and the ground shook slightly. 

Sokka’s eyes widened and he tensed. _Is he moving to attack?_

Lei stalked around the counter with malice in every step. “You come here, to a place you’ve never been, and you act like you know everything. You make judgements about me without having known me for more than a day. I need the money from those relics, you fool! I won’t allow myself to become dirt poor like the rest of the people in this damn town.”

“There are some lines you don’t cross. That temple is holy to airbenders.”

Lei laughed. “There aren’t any of them left! They’re gone! Why should I care what a bunch of dead breeze-makers think?”

“They’re not all dead.” Sokka said in a low tone.

_I need to return whatever he stole to the air temple. That’s the only way I can fix this._

“Oh, I forgot! You know the Avatar! Of course!” Lei laughed harder. “Tell him to come my way if you see him. He can buy back all of his people’s junk himself.”

“Here’s what is going to happen.” Sokka said. “You’re going to give me everything you stole. I’m going to take it back to the air temple and appease the spirit. Then I’ll get the taken girls back.”

“It’s at the air temple?”

Sokka was exasperated. “Where else would it be? That’s where you took everything from. It makes sense.”

“It does.” Lei frowned. 

Sokka was surprised. “You’re going to let me take the stuff back? Thank you. You won’t regret it. This is the best way to solve this problem, trust me.”

Lei shook his head. “I’m not letting you take anything. I found it, and now I own it. But I do know exactly where the spirit is, thanks to you. Something tells me that if I have more help than a young man who can barely use a boomerang, I’ll be able to end it for good.”

_That wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear. Wait, he said I can barely use a boomerang? That’s too far._

“Take it back.” Sokka said. 

“Take what back? That you’re a boy who doesn’t really know how the world works?”

“Not that. I don’t care about that, because I know it isn’t true. Take back the part about the boomerang.”

“Or what? You’ll fight me?” Lei seemed to think the idea was hilarious.

“I don’t want to have to do that. But if you’re not going to give me the relics…” Sokka trailed off. 

“You’re serious? Alright, then. Let’s go outside and settle this.” Lei walked out from behind the counter and made for the door.

“Hold on. I want this to be fair.”

“That’s impossible.” Lei stopped in front of Sokka. “You’re a nonbender. It was never going to be fair.”

“Let me use the sword.” Sokka said. “Then we’ll be even.”

A hideous smile creeped across Lei’s face. Sokka could see him for the man he truly was, then. He would only ever care about himself, and how much money he had to spend. “Sure, kid. Though, me giving you that sword still won’t make us even.” 

“I trained with Piandao. It will.” Sokka responded. 

“Never heard of him. But go ahead and take it. It’s not like it’ll make a difference. Try not to get it too scuffed up. I’m still planning on selling it.”

Sokka walked past Lei to retrieve the sword on the counter. The moment his fingers touched its handle, he felt the ground shift beneath him. Whirling around as fast as he could and holding up his sword in a defensive position, Sokka blocked the sharpened stone arrowhead that Lei had sent rocketing at his head. 

“Cheater!” He cried angrily. 

Lei held up his hands. A dozen or so stone arrowheads raised into the air, following the motion. “Calm down, now. I saw an opportunity and I took it. We can still take this outside. I don’t want to break anything.”

Sokka pursed his lips like he was thinking. He deliberately moved his sword hand to the other side of the counter, where an intricate urn was sitting. With a light poke of his sword, it fell and broke into pieces on the ground. “Oops.” He smiled, like he’d made an honest mistake. “Too late.”

Lei let out a roar and sent the arrowheads hurling towards Sokka. As he did so, the ground shook again. The arrowheads didn’t look the sharpest, but Sokka still wasn’t interested in finding out what one of them biting into his skin would feel like. He deflected some of them with quick pivots of his sword and ducked low to dodge the rest.

_It’s too cramped in here for me to use this sword the proper way. But since we’re in his shop, he can’t earthbend too much. He doesn’t want to destroy his inventory._

When the assault of the arrowheads had ceased, Sokka straightened up and began to approach Lei. “Not so fast.” Lei said. 

A life-sized statue next to Lei that Sokka recognized as the Earth King cracked before splitting off into jagged pieces. The ground trembled again. Lei hurled one at Sokka’s midsection and Sokka was only able to avoid it by dropping all the way to the ground and letting it fly over his head. 

“I thought you didn’t want to break anything!” Sokka yelped.

“I don’t, but I really want to break you.” Lei said, as sinister as Sokka could imagine. “Anyways, I’ve never liked the Earth King.”

“Why? He’s a nice guy. I should know, I’ve met him mysel-”

“Again, you lie!” Lei sent half of the Earth King’s head in Sokka’s direction, triggering the ground to shudder once again.

“Ah!” Sokka rolled out of the way and quickly crawled behind the counter for cover. 

_He’s got me pinned! Shit! I guess I can’t beat him in close quarters._

Risking a peek around the counter, Sokka saw Lei coming closer. 

_I can’t surrender._ He steeled himself. _There is a way I can win here. Think._

Noticing that Sokka’s head was in view, Lei threw the Earth King’s foot at him at a deadly speed. Sokka gulped and dodged it as the ground shook again. Expensive china in the cabinet next to the counter rattled and it swayed forward before settling back on its legs.

_Every time he earthbends, the ground rumbles for a moment. That could be because he’s not very well trained, or just because he doesn’t care. If I can trick him into standing in the right place and doing it one more time, maybe that cabinet will fall on him._

It wasn’t the most elegant plan Sokka had ever constructed, but it was better than getting beaten to a pulp with some random part of the Earth King. Sokka scooted away from the wall the cabinet was on and got ready.

When Lei rounded the corner to see Sokka crouched down, he let out another cruel laugh. “Does this feel like an even fight to you?”

Sokka jumped up suddenly and hurled the sword at Lei. It was a terrible throw on purpose, and Lei did what Sokka was hoping for when he threw his arms over his chest in a defensive stance to bring the remaining parts of the Earth King in front of him to block the sword. The ground under them quaked violently for a few seconds.

“Yeah, it does feel even.” Sokka answered with an assured grin. “Only one of us has much of a brain.”

Lei dropped his earthen shield and frowned. “Wha-”

The heavy cabinet tipped forward and caught him by surprise. As the china inside of the cabinet fell forward, so did Lei, crushed by the weight of it. He let out a shocked yell before he hit the ground and lost consciousness. Plates and teacups shattered, and the noise was so loud that Sokka hoped it didn’t reach the neighbors.

“Huh,” He muttered. “Who knew that china cabinets were so effective against earthbenders? Earth Rumble here I come!”

Not wanting to give Lei the chance to wake up, Sokka made quick work of locating all the airbender relics in the store that he could. Apart from the tapestry, he found a couple of pendants bearing the symbol for air, an old airbending flute that he couldn’t figure out how to work, and a set of scrolls detailing important traditions. 

_That seems like all of it._

Sokka’s eyes caught on a small wooden bust. It looked ancient, and the wood around the base had chipped away long ago. There had once been an inscription, but wear over time had rendered it illegible. It depicted a young man with hair just above his shoulders and a short beard sprouting from his chin. Something about it gave Sokka pause. 

_That doesn’t seem like an airbender relic. But it does seem historic. Maybe I should take it too, just in case. It could be important._

He stuffed the bust under his arm and did his best to balance the rest of the stuff he was taking to return to the air temple. After a moment of thought, he placed his pile on the counter and leaned over to retrieve the lustrous gold sword that was lying next to Lei’s head. 

“Not going to lie, your customer service wasn’t the best.” Sokka said to Lei, who was still knocked out. “You shouldn’t try to kill your buyers. It’s bad for business.”

He had everything loaded onto Tai in five minutes and was out of the town in ten. With his new sword hanging from his side, he headed back towards the harbor he’d been dropped off at the day before.

 _It would be really awesome if I wasn’t in any more mortal danger for the rest of this trip._ Sokka sighed and pulled Tai’s reins lightly to stop him from wandering off the road. _But why do I feel like that isn’t going to happen?_

***

He got through the boat ride without any attempts on his life, at least. The man who he paid to take him was friendly, and they got along well during the day-long journey to the mountains that the Eastern Air Temple was perched atop. It was a farther distance than Sokka had expected, and he marveled at the fact that the spirit had travelled all the way to the village and back multiple times. 

_Then again, spirits do move differently than humans. If I could have gotten a spirit to take me on this journey instead of Tai, I probably would have made it to the governor’s city within a few days. If only._

When that went through his mind, the ostrich horse bumped him with its beak as if it could hear his thoughts. Sokka rubbed its side. “Who’s a stupid boy? Who’s a dumb boy? You are!” He said in a sweet tone. 

Tai let out a happy squawking whinny. 

When the mountains first came into view of the boat, Sokka was worried. They were almost entirely vertical, and he doubted even Tai’s flexible legs could get up them. Luckily, by the time the air temple itself had come into view, so had a large flat slab of rock at sea level that they could get off onto. From there, a trail snaked upwards. 

Sokka paid the boat operator and asked him to come back in a few days at a certain time. “If I’m here, I’m here.” Sokka had told him. “And if I’m not, I’m probably not anywhere. Or in the stomach of a giant caterpillar, if you believe that spirits eat people. Which I’m hoping they don’t!”

The boat operator hadn’t asked any more questions after that.

Since they’d arrived at dusk, Sokka camped the night down by the ocean. He didn’t feel up to facing the spirit and the emptiness of the Eastern Air Temple in the dark. He woke up the next morning wishing once again for an actual bed or some good meat.

_When I do get to meet the governor of Daodong, I’m going to ask for a feast in my honor. That’s fair, right? I am a friend of the Avatar, after all._

Making his way up the mountain on Tai was nerve-racking. The tendency that the ostrich horse had to veer off course was downright dangerous on the narrow trail they were taking. Sokka regretted that he had to be a little more forceful with his tugs on the reins. 

The trip up the trail took him four grueling hours in total. When he got to the end of the dirt and stone path, he was met with a set of stairs chiseled into the rock that would take him up the rest of the way. Tai hesitated at them, but Sokka gave him a friendly nudge forward, and they kept going. The ostrich horse wasn’t very good at walking up steps at first, and nearly fell forward a few times. Eventually, it got the rhythm, and things went quicker from there.

As they made it to the top of the steps, the temple came into full view. Seeing it from the ground was nothing compared to seeing it spread out across the mountaintops in all of its glory. Though he’d seen all the other air temples before, he was still awed by the soaring nature of the building. 

A bridge connected the spot the trail had led him up to and the temple itself. It was wide enough to get Tai across, but there were no barriers on the side to keep them from falling.

_Of course the airbenders wouldn’t put in guard railings or anything. It’s not like they would have needed them. But I really would have appreciated a few!_

“Keep going.” Sokka pushed Tai forward onto the bridge. “Unless you want me to leave you on this side of the mountain.”

Tai sped up, moving into a trot.

“Ach!” Sokka tried to slow him down. “I was just kidding! Relax! You know that you can’t fly, right?”

Just like usual, Tai didn’t listen. His trot turned into a run. There were few times where Sokka was sure they were going to veer off to their deaths before they made it over, but in the end, they made it. 

Tai slowed to a stop once they were all the way across, and Sokka gave him a light rap on the head. “Sometimes I swear you don’t listen to me on purpose, you dumb bird.” He hopped off, choosing to walk next to the ostrich horse instead of riding it. It made things a little slower, but he didn’t mind.

The Eastern Air Temple reminded Sokka of the Southern Air Temple the most out of the other temples that he’d visited. Lush trees and bushes were everywhere, having taken over much of the space over the many years that it had been abandoned. But he guessed that there had been a lot of living things around even when the airbenders were still here. On his way up to the central building, he passed through a few different areas that had once been gardens. 

_I can’t decide if this place is peaceful or just plain creepy._

Silence blanketed everything. Sokka could barely even hear the rustling of leaves in the wind. There were no animals to be seen anywhere, not even bugs. It was if the entire temple was holding its breath, waiting for something.

_There’s a lot of ground to cover here. If I was a giant caterpillar spirit, where would I be? Inside of a giant apple, maybe? No, I don’t think they have any of those here._

Stables that had once housed herds of air bison were positioned in between the lower gardens that Sokka had come in through and the tall towers of the main temple. When he made it to these, Sokka let go of Tai’s reins. “Stay here. You can do that, can’t you? I don’t want to have to tie you to anything, especially if I don’t…”

_Man up, Sokka! That isn’t going to happen._

“I’ll be back. Try not to get lost.” Sokka found that for how much Tai annoyed him, he’d grown fond of the ostrich horse as a companion. “Apparently the airbenders didn’t really believe in gates either, so I’m trusting you won’t take this as an opportunity to run for the hills.”

Tai tilted his head to the side before starting to peck the dirt. 

“I have nothing to worry about, do I?” Sokka took the bag with the airbender relics and went on. As he moved further up, he drew his sword and walked more cautiously, ready for any attacks that could come his way. 

_I should be looking for the most spiritual spot in the temple. But this whole place is spiritual! This used to be the most spiritual place in the world, even! I’ll just have to look everywhere._

He passed through a series of hallways before making it into a hall with high ceilings and ivy growing up the walls. It definitely seemed like a place that a giant bug spirit would love, but there was no evidence that anything of that size had been around. Sokka moved on.

Next was a library that might have been able to rival Wan Ti Shong’s when it was in its prime. Shelves stretched up high, though most of them were empty. A few had even collapsed into each other and were leaning against a wall. Sokka ran his fingers over the scroll in his bag.

_Should I leave it here? I really didn’t think this through._

Sokka had subconsciously been expecting to meet the angry spirit as soon as he walked onto the grounds of the temple, and then sort things out from there. He couldn’t be sure if the spirit wanted the relics returned to it directly or just left in the temple. Deciding to play it safe, Sokka kept the scroll.

Past the library were rooms where the nuns had lived. Sokka sped through those quickly. They weren’t big enough for the spirit to be hiding in, and something about them saddened him. The rooms were a reminder that the people who had lived here weren’t just a history lesson, and that they had once been as lively as Aang. 

The eating area was next, and that only made Sokka’s stomach ache. He went further up. By time he was getting close to the top of the tallest tower, he already knew that the spirit wasn’t in the building he’d searched. 

_It could be in one of the other two buildings. Or hiding somewhere in those gardens that look more like jungles. Damn, it probably is there. How am I going to find it with how big the gardens are?_

Since he had already come so far, he decided to walk the rest of the way to the top. 

_I might as well. It’s not like I’m planning on coming back here anytime soon._

The staircase he was taking led him to an open doorway, which he walked through.

He noticed the view first. It was breathtaking. From this vantage point, he could see almost all of the rest of the temple and the mountains that surrounded it. If he squinted, he even thought he could make out the Eastern edge of the Earth Kingdom across the sea. 

It took him longer to notice the man, maybe because he wasn’t expecting anyone to be there. When he did realize that he wasn’t alone, he stepped back and yet out a very un-warriorlike scream. “Ahh!”

“Hm? Oh, I have a visitor.” The man, who had been meditating, sprung up to his feet. He was far too nimble for how old he looked. An unruly beard went down to the middle of his chest. “What brings you to me? If you’re a door-to-door salesman, I must say I’m not interested.”

Sokka stared at him blankly, fingers still curled around his sword.

_Can crazy spirits manifest as crazier old people?_

“I’m only joking!” The man laughed. “I had a feeling that someone would come along soon, but I didn’t expect anyone from the Water Tribe! You must have travelled quite a long way.”

Slowly, Sokka dropped his hand from his sword. “You have no idea. Why are you up here? No, actually, who even are you?”

“I’m the one who taught your friend Aang to open his chakras. Or tried to, anyway. As many Avatars have before him, he ended up making his own path to deal with his problems.”

“You know Aang? Wait, how do you know who I am?” Sokka asked, surprised. 

“There are a lot of things you can learn if you stay in one place for long enough.” The man said mysteriously. “Though it’s only your body that remains motionless. Your spirit can be as free as it wishes.”

“You’re the guru that he went to find! Guru Pathik.” Sokka suddenly remembered. While he had visited his father in Chameleon Bay during the war, Aang had headed to the Eastern Air Temple. “I’d totally forgotten that you lived here!”

“I don’t live here.” Pathik responded simply.

“But you’ve been here since Aang came to find you. And that was, like, four years ago.”

“Weren’t you listening to what I just said?” The guru smiled. “The physical nature of where I was is unimportant.”

Sokka’s gaze moved past Pathik to the spot where he had been meditating. It was a shade lighter than the stone around it, as if it had been protected from the rays of the sun. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“I really couldn’t say.” Pathik shrugged. “You said that Aang was here four years ago?”

Sokka nodded.

“There’s your answer, then! Now, I know what you’ve come for help with.”

“Hold on. You sat there for four years?” Sokka asked, shocked. “You didn’t have to sleep? Or eat?” Pathik scratched a spot behind his ear. Sokka grimaced. “Or take baths?”

“None of that. I’ve found what really matters in this world to me.” Pathik answered. “And it isn’t even in this world! Though I would love a good serving of onion-banana juice right now. You wouldn’t happen to have any?”

“No, sorry.”

“It is alright. Once I help you, I might go find some for myself.”

“You can help me deal with the spirit? Do you know how to make it turn back to it’s original form?” Sokka was ecstatic.

“You’ve already figured out who the spirit is on the inside! You’re a clever one. I can guide you to a solution to your problem like I did with your friend, but I’m afraid I cannot do all the work for you.”

“What?” Sokka’s face fell. “But you’re a spirit dude. You know way more about this stuff than I do! If I go to meet that thing alone, I’m not going to be able to fix it.”

“But you were already planning to go against it alone, were you not?”

“Yeah, but now you can help me!”

“There are some tasks that must be completed alone, young warrior. Like this one. You must use every ounce of strength you have to face your fear and solve this problem.” Pathik said this all with an air of seriousness. After a moment, he broke into giggles. “Didn’t that sound intimidating? I may have been a little overdramatic. I apologize, it’s been a while since I spoke with anyone.”

“I can tell.” Sokka frowned.

“Don’t be cross with me because I can’t help you. I’ll still do all I can to tell you how to put things back to the way they should be.”

“I’m not mad. It’s just…” Sokka sighed. “I don’t feel like the right person for this. I never even wanted to get dragged into this, I just wanted to make it to where I was going.”

“No one forced you to make the journey here.”

“I couldn’t leave the girls that the spirit took here without trying to help them! That would have been wrong.”

“And by saying that, you make it clear that you are the right person for this.” Pathik smiled a toothy smile. “Anyone with a willing heart can help others.”

“That’s not what I meant about not being the right person.” Sokka was frustrated. He didn’t know why he was telling the Guru about his nagging doubts.

_It’s not like he’s going to talk to anyone else anytime soon. What’s the harm?_

“If Aang was here, he could deal with this easily. Even if one of my other friends who could bend was here, they’d have a better handle on it than me. Sometimes I feel like the weakest out of everyone I know. What good is the weakest link on his own?” Sokka asked.

“If someone else was here, they would be dealing with different challenges.” Pathik answered. “Being the Avatar does not make everything easier.”

“I know that!” Sokka groaned. “But it still does make a lot of things easier! Especially dealing with dangerous giant spirits.”

“The weakest link.” Pathik muttered. “The weakest link. You think you are the weakest link out of all your friends?”

“Obviously!”

“I highly doubt that is true. Think of all you have done in your life. Everything that’s happened to you, big or small.”

“I don’t-”

“Just do it. Humor the crazy old man.”

“I never said you were crazy.”

Pathik laughed. “No. I said it. Now think.”

“Okay.”

Sokka thought of everything he’d done. He’d trained relentlessly as a young child after his dad had left because he had been his village’s last line of defense. He’d helped invent a new way to travel the seas, the submarine. He’d travelled the world, made new friends, and fought countless fights. He hadn’t won all of them, but he was still alive, which had to count for something. He’d met a girl, fallen in love, and lost her.

_What kind of accomplishment is that? I failed her._

But after he had lost her, he’d been able to not let it break him. He’d met another girl, though technically he had already met her, and fallen in love again. That did seem like something to celebrate.

“Now tell me,” Guru Pathik said, “How many of these things you are thinking of occurred because of you, and not your friends?”

“If it wasn’t for my friends, I wouldn’t have made it through everything. I probably wouldn’t have even left home!” Sokka objected.

“While that may be true, consider this. They would have not made it through everything without you. Just like you were entirely necessary in your travels to cease the Fire Lord’s expansion, you are entirely necessary here and now.”

“Seriously?” Sokka still didn’t really believe what the old man was saying. “You’re saying that I was meant to be here to help appease this spirit?”

Pathik raised an eyebrow. “If you think I am saying that, then yes.”

“Are all spirit experts this hard to understand?” Sokka asked, irritated.

“Most of them are.” Pathik nodded. “But I like to think I’m a bit more fun!”

“Fun isn’t the first word I would have used to describe this conversation.” 

Pathik ignored him. “You’ve brought whatever was taken from the temple with you?”

Sokka reached in his bag and grabbed the first thing his hands latched onto. It was the flute. He held it up to show the Guru. “Yeah. I have other stuff too.”

“Please show me.”

Sokka did, unfurling the tapestry and placing the rest of what Lei had stolen on it. He hesitated before taking out the wooden bust. “I wasn’t sure if this had been taken from here, but I had a feeling about it.”

When Pathik saw the small statue, he let out a gasp. Then he broke into a fit of laughter. 

Sokka blushed, embarrassed. “Sorry. I don’t know why I thought to bring it.”

“No, no.” Pathik shook his head, still laughing. “You were exactly right. You claim that you aren’t right for this task, and yet you get a feeling to take that with you? I suspect you have more of a connection with the spirit world than you think you do.”

“It is from here?”

“Yes. And I would say that it’s the most important of everything you’ve brought to return. Good eye.”

“But it’s so…grimy.” 

_That little bust is the most important thing? More important than a tapestry of Yangchen? It looks like it lost a fight against a group of termite-ants._

“Do you recognize the man in it?” 

“No. Should I?”

“I suppose not. You aren’t ten-thousand years old.”

Sokka’s eyes widened. “And you are?”

“No!” Pathik shook his head. “But I know history better than most. The man in the bust is the first Avatar.”

“Really? I’ve never thought about there being a first one. I kind of just thought there had always been one.” Sokka commented. He looked closer at the bust. “This is why the spirit is so angry?”

“It’s part of the reason. When this statue was taken away, so was an important part of history. Losses like that are never good.”

“And that caused it to go berserk and shift into caterpillar mode?” Sokka still didn’t quite get it.

“Without knowledge of our history, it can be hard to know ourselves. The butterfly spirit has lived close to this temple for a long time. It predates even the building of the temple.”

“I thought spirits lived in the spirit world most of the time.”

“Not all of them, and not this one. There are exceptions to every rule.”

“But why was it taking the girls?” Sokka asked. “I don’t get that either.”

“The spirt grew close to the residents of the temple, as they were very spiritually minded. Those residents were all female nuns. When they were killed, it went dormant. After even more of what it used to be was taken, it forgot who it was. It wants things to return to how they used to be, and decided to try and find new friends by taking them. You can’t bring back the airbenders, but you can remind the spirit of its identity.”

“And how do I do that?”

“Give back the history you’ve gathered here. That should be enough.”

“What if it isn’t? Will me fixing this now really be enough to make sure that something doesn’t go wrong in the future?”

“It will have to be. Besides, nothing stays perfect forever. Darkness rises up when certain things are neglected. I can say that you will do your part in keeping dark spirits at bay here for this generation, but the future remains uncertain.”

“That’s comforting.” Sokka said in a sarcastic tone.

“The truth is seldom comforting, but it is useful.” 

“I can’t give this stuff back if I don’t even know where the spirit is hiding.” Sokka remarked. “Are you going to leave that one to me too?”

“No, I can help you there. It resides where it always has. The air nomads built their temple here for a reason. Even before they were here, this was a strongly spiritual place. As I said, the butterfly spirit was already here.” Pathik walked to the edge of building, seemingly not caring that he was inches from a deadly fall. “If you go down the mountain that way, you will come across a meditation circle of upright stones. It will be there.”

“Okay.” Sokka nodded. “And from there it should be easy.”

Guru Pathik closed his eyes. “I would not say that. But I do think that you will succeed.”

“What? Is something going to happen?” Sokka asked. “You have to tell me!”

“I don’t have to do anything. It’s all a choice.” Pathik smiled. “I know that you don’t need me warning you of the danger that awaits you. So, I am choosing not to tell you of the specifics.”

“More danger!” Sokka groaned. “Are you serious? You know, I would kill for once to just not be in danger. I’m tired of being in danger all the time!”

“I would get used to it. You’ve got much life left to live.” Pathik cracked his knuckles and his back before sitting back down in the same spot he had been in. 

“Yeah, but I don’t want to spend all of that in some kind of danger!” Sokka complained. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“What I was doing before.” Guru Pathik was motionless as he spoke. “I’ve helped you, and now the rest is up to you. I wish you luck, but I don’t think you need it.”

“That’s it?” 

_I don’t feel prepared to face the spirit. Or whatever other ‘danger’ is waiting for me. No wonder this guy couldn’t help Aang open all of his chakras! He’s nuts!_

“That’s it.” The Guru said back quietly.

“Alright.” Sokka stood there a moment longer, not ready to leave. “I’ll tell Aang that I saw you when I see him again. I’m sure he’d love to visit you. I’ll even remind him to bring some onion-banana juice, if you’re not going to go get some now.”

Pathik laughed, but it wasn’t imbued with the same cheerfulness as it had been earlier. “That would be nice. But I don’t think Aang and I will see each other again.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you’ve been alive as long as I have, you start to see how events will play out more easily. It gets even easier when you spend all your time meditating.”

“I don’t get it.” Sokka said. “You know what’s going to happen?”

“I have a strong idea of it. Goodbye, Sokka.” 

Sokka was startled as he realized it was the first time the Guru had said his name. He wanted to say more and ask more, but something told him that it was his time to move on. He quietly packed the relics before taking the view and the man sitting in front of it in one last time. 

“Goodbye.” He said. The Guru didn’t respond. Sokka turned and walked back down the stairs without letting himself look back. 

He let himself go a little slower as he walked back down. Now that he knew where the spirit was, he didn’t have to worry about it ambushing him. Pathik’s words played on repeat in his mind.

_I was meant to be the one to do this? How can he say that when he doesn’t even know me? And if I was meant to do this, does that mean that everything I do in the future is already planned out for me?_ Sokka sighed. _It would have been nice if he hadn’t been so vague about everything. I like riddles, but people who speak in them are the worst._

As he passed back through the empty living quarters, Sokka got that same sad feeling that he had before. _I should tell Aang to send some Air Acolytes here or something. Someone should be protecting the place from thieves like Lei. And he is always talking about how he wants to protect his heritage._

Tai perked up when Sokka entered the stables. From the looks of it, he had still been pecking the same spot of dirt on the ground. “I’m back!” Sokka made sure to pet him on the way by. 

“And I’m not dead! Well, yet.”

The ostrich horse made a happy sounding caw and went back to the dirt.

When the Guru had pointed down the mountain, Sokka had payed close attention to the direction he would have to take. However, it had been a lot easier to plot that out when he had a bird’s eye view of the area. As soon as he moved on from the stables and into the gardens, he got lost.

Things would have been much easier to navigate in the past, he thought. But now that plants had grown over the paths and one garden had bled into another, it wasn’t. The most he could do was ensure that he was moving down the mountain, but even that proved to be difficult. He passed a distinctive rock three times before he realized he was going in circles.

Just as he felt like giving up and slumping onto the ground for a while, he made it to a place where the trees stop. He found out why when he kept walking and almost went over the side of a cliff.

“That’s progress.” He said to himself. Leaning out as far as he could, he looked for anything resembling the meditation circle that Pathik had described. Nothing like that popped out to him, but he did see a path that would take him further down away from the gardens. 

He walked along the cliff to get to it and once he made it there everything seemed to open up considerably. Making his way down the path was much faster than getting through the gardens. When the meditation circle came into his view, it was sudden. Sokka went around a corner and he was there.

The huge rocks had also been covered by plants of different varieties and tall grass grew in the middle of the circle. However, the grass was nowhere near tall enough to hide the huge caterpillar spirit. Sokka froze when he saw it. 

_I don’t want to startle it. How can I show it that I’m friendly?_

He set his sword on the ground gently. With more hesitation, he removed his boomerang as well and placed it next to the sword. Then, he opened his bag and started approaching the circle as slowly as he could.

The spirit noticed him, and let out a high-pitched hissing sound. It was like nothing Sokka had ever heard, and sounded out-of-place coming from a bug.

“Hi!” He heard himself speak. His mouth moved of its own volition. “I’m here as a friend. I promise. I have the stuff that was taken from here. I’m just here to return it.”

It hissed in response and curled its gargantuan body around one of the rocks. 

_Wait, is that…_

At the top of the rock that the spirit had curled around hung a grey-brown cocoon. It was the size of a little girl. Looking to the other rocks, Sokka saw that there were four others. 

_I know where the girls are. That’s a good thing. I just have to make sure that Mr. Hissing Caterpillar doesn’t lose it and topple the rocks._

“My name is Sokka,” He kept talking. “I’m friends with the Avatar! That gives me some sway with spirits, right? He’s like a celebrity to you guys.”

The spirit curled tighter around the rock. 

“Okay, you’re not a fan. I completely understand. What hard-working spirit has the time to keep up with celebrities?” Sokka was aware he sounded ridiculous, but the only thing keeping him from freaking out was emitting a constant stream of noise. “If you don’t mind, I’m just going to reach into my bag and take out what I came here to give you. It would be great if you didn’t take it as a sign to charge at me or anything.”

It watched him expectantly. Reading its expression was impossible.

Sokka walked to the edge of the meditation circle and brought out the tapestry and all the lesser relics, laying them out on the soft ground. He kept the tapestry rolled up so it wouldn’t get dirty. The spirit loosened its hold on the rock a bit.

The bust came out last, and the reaction was immediate. The caterpillar disentangled itself from the rock and rushed at Sokka. With his weapons back where he’d dropped them, there was no way for him to defend himself. He was going to dodge out of the way at the last second, but as it got closer to him, it slowed. Seeing it move up close was terrifying. If it wanted to, it could easily crush him. 

“This is all of it. Maybe you recognize the guy in the bust?” Sokka’s voice trembled.

Another hissing sound came from the spirit, but this one was softer and calmer. 

_Maybe I’m on the right track._

“He was the first Avatar. Or so I’m told. Did you know that?” The caterpillar moved its head down to try and touch the bust but it was too large to really do so. Sokka took a breath and lifted the bust up so it rested against the spirit.

_Guru Pathik said that I need to remind it of who it really is. Talk about history._

“This was here when the airbenders used to live here. Do you remember when the airbenders lived here? Do you remember who you used to be?”

The bust made contact with the bottom of the caterpillar’s head and it stilled. 

“You used to be a butterfly.” Sokka continued. “I’m not really sure what you looked like, but I’m sure you were really cool. Or pretty. I can’t tell if you’re a boy or a girl. Not that you can’t be a cool girl or a pretty boy! Wait, is that even how spirits work?”

Light began to flood the meditation circle from an unknown source. Where before it had been kind of dim, everything was now bathed in a soft yellow. As the light washed over the spirit, it stayed touching the bust, as if anchoring itself during its transformation. 

Sokka was stunned silent by the beauty of what he was witnessing. He tried to soak in as many details as he could and commit them to memory. He doubted he would ever see something quite like this again. 

The shape of the caterpillar started to change under the light. Before it could finish changing, there was a loud shout from behind where Sokka was kneeling. 

“Stop that!” The ground shook.

A large rock sailed through the air and hit the transforming spirit. The impact knocked it to the side and it solidified back into being a caterpillar. Light drained away from the meditation circle as soon as it had appeared. 

Sokka already knew he was going to see before he looked, but he still wasn’t glad when he turned and he was right. Lei stood at the bottom of the trail. He was flanked by six men who Sokka assumed were the ‘concerned citizens’ that Lei had mentioned the day before. 

“What are you doing?” Sokka yelled. 

“I’m doing what you don’t have the strength to.” Lei glared at Sokka. “If you are smart like you claim, you’ll get out of here before you meet the same fate as this spirit.”

“You’re making a mistake!” Sokka knew that they weren’t going to listen to him, but had to try. “Don’t do this!”

“Don’t listen to him.” Lei raised another chunk of earth and nodded at the men next to him. “Attack.”

Only half of the men Lei had brought with him were earthbenders. The others carried swords or clubs. Their attack was far from unified, as every man was only focused on getting the kill for themselves. However, their numbers still meant that they had the advantage on the confused spirit.

Before it could even get up from the first strike, it was pelted by rocks. Then the men with weapons ran up and started hitting and stabbing it. Sokka didn’t know what it took to kill a spirit, but the way Lei and his companions were whaling away at the caterpillar, it wouldn’t last long. 

_What do I do?_

There was only one thing Sokka could think of to do. He pulled himself up and ran as fast as he could to retrieve his sword and boomerang. Once he had them in his hands, he felt considerably stronger. “Stop it!” He shouted at the men. “Or else!”

Lei took a break from his assault on the spirit to respond. “Or else what? You’ll fight with a spirit against your own kind? You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I beat you once, and I can do it again.”

Lei’s face reddened. “You got lucky. There aren’t any tricks you can pull here, and you sure as hell can’t beat all of us.”

Sokka narrowed his eyes as he slid his boomerang into the holster on his back. “I’m sure as hell going to try.”

The whooping battle cry he let loose as he ran towards one of the other earthbenders Lei had brought along worked both for and against him. On the one hand, it distracted most of the men from their assault on the spirit. On the other, their attention went to Sokka. 

Before Sokka reached the man he’d been targeting, a wall of earth shot up in his path. Not allowing himself to be deterred, he used it to his advantage. The wall was just low enough that he could reach up and pull himself over with one arm. He did so, albeit clumsily, and managed to surprise the earthbender when he came over the other side.

Sliding down the wall and rolling to avoid a rock that had been hastily blasted at him, Sokka got closer to his target. He was only a couple feet away when the man threw his hands apart in an outward motion. Recognizing the move as one of the tricks Toph would sometimes use, Sokka jumped and avoided the gaping chasm that had opened under him. His momentum took him straight into the earthbender and when they collided both of them fell to the ground. 

Not wanting to give the man any time to recover, Sokka slammed the blunt side of his sword into his face as hard as he could. The man groaned and went limp. 

“Sorry.” Sokka said. “I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.”

_One down, six to go._

“I’m going to kill you!” Lei screamed in rage.

“Not if the spirit doesn’t get you first!” Sokka grinned as he saw the caterpillar had gotten up in the time he’d distracted the men. “Don’t worry about it eating you, though! Remember, Howin says that it only goes after smart people!”

Lei began to advance on him, but stopped when the spirit rammed into two of the other men. It had used the time Sokka had spent distracting its attackers to recover. The men that it hit flew through the air and both had hard landings. Only one of them was able to pull himself up.

“I’m not done with you.” Lei pointed at Sokka, then turned to go back to fighting the spirit.

“Glad to hear it.” Sokka said back.

_I should focus on the earthbenders. They’re the biggest threats._

The man the spirit had knocked out was a sword-user, which meant Sokka still had three earthbenders to deal with, including Lei. Choosing to take a stealthier approach than his first attempt, he skirted around the outside of the rocks that made up the meditation circle. 

Keeping his steps light, Sokka ran up behind another of the earthbenders and used a swift kick to sweep his legs out from under him. He attempted to follow up with another blunt slam to the face, but was thwarted when the man stomped the ground and a piece of earth shot up into Sokka’s stomach.

“Agh!” Sokka was thrown back.

“Bastard!” The man spat. “Fighting for a child stealer!”

“You’re fighting with the one who pissed it off!” Sokka shot back.

“What?” The man furrowed his brow.

“Oh, you didn’t know? Your friend Lei is the one who stole airbender relics from the temple and brought the spirit’s wrath upon your town! He’s the one responsible.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Lei shouted. “He lies!”

“It’s true!” Sokka suddenly realized that his best chance wasn’t in beating all of the men, but turning them against Lei. 

_Lei said my big mouth would get me in trouble someday. He was wrong. It’s about to save my ass!_

“Those are the relics right there! I was about to return them and purify the spirit for good when you arrived and attacked!”

The man who Sokka had just tried to knock out turned his head to look at the relics splayed out on the mossy ground. “But my daughter…”

_He’s one of the fathers? Oops._

“She’s up there.” Sokka gestured to the cocoons. “And she’ll be safe if we do this right.”

“How do you know?” The man stared at Sokka.

“I don’t. But killing the spirit isn’t going to help. I know that.”

The man’s face hardened, and Sokka braced himself for another attack. Instead, the man stood up and stomped off towards the closest cocoon. “I’m getting her down from there.”

_Him doing that is better than him trying to bash my brains out with rocks. Or him trying to kill the caterpillar. Hey, small victories, am I right?_

Four men, two of them earthbenders, were still attacking the spirit. The caterpillar was starting to slow in its movements. Lei and the other’s continued attacks had done serious damage. 

“Stop!” Sokka shouted. “You really don’t want to kill that spirit!”

“Ignore him!” Lei blasted a rock at Sokka that he dodged.

_I can get these men to listen to me. I just need to be persuasive. I need to be Sokka._

Adopting a relaxed stance, Sokka leaned forward and put his weight on his sword, which he pushed down into the dirt. He was posed like someone watching an entertaining sports match or street performance, and when he spoke his tone was light and casual. “I’m serious, you guys. Think of all the bad luck you’d get dumped on you if you killed it. Not to mention the bad luck your kids would inherit from you! Haven’t you ever heard the story of the…” Sokka grasped for a believable sounding spirit name and Momo flashed through his mind. “…flying lemur spirit?” 

“No. What’s that?” The earthbender next to Lei slowed his attack. 

“A group of hunters went after it. They said that killing it would bring them glory and fame. All it brought them was pain. After they killed it, their entire village came down with a horrible sickness, and the men had to watch their families die. Some of them passed from grief after that, and the ones who lived were never the same. I don’t know about you, but I’m not in love with the idea of starting a plague. Or worse.”

“Be quiet!” Lei jumped up as he raised his hands. When his feet hit the ground, everything quaked. 

Earth rose up around Sokka and threatened to enclose him. Thinking quickly, he kicked his feet off of one of the rising walls and clambered up and out of the earthen cage Lei had tried to trap him in.

“Do you want to be cursed?” Sokka went on. “Do you want to know the true wrath of the spirits? Because I sure don’t!”

“The vile worm spirit needs to be ended!” Lei asserted. “It will never stop taking girls. We are doing the right thing!”

“People who are doing the right thing usually don’t have to say out loud that they’re doing the right thing. Just saying.” Sokka gave Lei a smile. It was more of a genuine one, due to the fact that he could see that Lei's companions were taking him seriously.

“Lei,” The burly man with the club said. “What if he’s right? Angering the spirits is dangerous. I don’t want to be cursed.”

“Me neither.” The other earthbender agreed. 

“You fools!” Lei was furious. “I’ll finish this myself.”

“Finishing this won’t make you any less guilty.” Sokka told him. “And it definitely won’t make you any safer. The only way to do that is if you return the relics and leave.”

“Never. Those relics are mine, and I’m going to make good money off of them. This unfortunate saga is going to end with both you and that spirit gone.”

Sokka looked to the other men. “This one is personal. Do you gentlemen mind?” One of them gave a shrug, and the others didn’t say anything in response. Sokka grinned wider. “Wonderful.”

“You really think you can beat me? I’m not falling for any of your bullshit again.”

Sokka pulled his boomerang back out and tightened his grip on his sword. 

_Aang. Katara. Toph. Zuko. They could all beat this asshole with ease._

_And so can I._

“Bring it.” Sokka said.

Immediately, huge clods of earth rose up from the ground, leaving pits in their wake. They surged forwards toward Sokka from all sides. He jumped backwards behind one of the upright stones in the meditation circle before any of it could hit him. The stone that was hit by the attack started tipping over, and Sokka feared for a moment that the stones in the circle would fall on each other like dominoes. 

Luckily, the earthbender who had been working to free the girls from the cocoons caught it and pushed it back into the right position. “Careful!” He shouted.

“Nice one, moron!” Sokka called at Lei.

The distance from Sokka to Lei was about twenty feet. It would be impossible to cross it without getting buried by Lei’s earthbending. And since Lei was in the middle of the circle of stones, there would be no surprise attacks.

_I could make it to him if he was stunned for just a minute. Boomerang, don’t fail me now._

Sokka launched his boomerang from out behind the rock. It felt natural as it left his hand, like it was an extension of his own body. 

“Stop hiding!” Lei yelled, and took a step forward.

_He can’t move or it’ll miss!_

Sokka listened to his instincts and ran from the stone he was hiding behind to the next one. Lei stopped moving to fire off a blast of earth that narrowly missed. The boomerang was in the middle of its arc.

_Just a little longer._

Darting to the next tall stone got Lei to shoot another clump of earth at him. “You coward! Face me!”

“Just a second!”

The boomerang was returning now, and Lei’s head was right in its path. 

Sokka ran out behind the stone and at Lei. “Okay, this is me facing you!”

Lei grinned sadistically. “Idiot bo-”

The boomerang clocked him in the back of the head. 

_Many people don’t know what it’s like to be hit by a well-thrown boomerang. I’m sure he didn’t. I’m glad I could give him a lesson._

Sokka closed the distance before Lei could recover and pushed him back onto the ground with a hard kick to the groin. “Remember when you said I barely know how to use a boomerang? I think you might have been wrong about that one.”

Lei raised his hands to earthbend, but Sokka was faster. He slammed the blunt side of his sword into Lei’s face even harder than he’d done to the other man he'd taken out. The earthbender slumped back, but Sokka stayed on guard for a few extra seconds that Lei was down for good.

When he was sure it was real, he let out a breath. “I enjoyed that a little too much.”

“Huh. Didn’t expect you to win.” The man with the club remarked. 

“He wasn’t going to listen to me.” Sokka shrugged. “Again, I have it right when I say none of you want to be cursed?”

The men nodded vigorously. 

“Cool. I’m just going to finish what I started, then.” Sokka walked back to the relics on the ground, stepping over the other man he’d knocked out on the way. He used the tapestry as a carrying pouch, and brought all of it over to where the spirit was lying on the ground.

_It’s not dead. It’s moving. They came close, but I stopped them in time._

“Sorry about them.” Sokka lowered his voice. “Humans kind of suck. But I hope by helping you, I’m doing my part to suck marginally less than the rest of humanity.”

Gingerly raising the wooden bust of the first avatar to touch the spirit, Sokka waited for the light to return. It came slower and more hesitantly this time. The ambush by Lei’s group had weakened whatever presence existed there.

“Come on.” Sokka muttered. “You can do this.”

The light brightened slightly.

“How could I forget?” He laughed softly. “I’m a motivation bender! All you need to finish transforming is a pep talk, right? I can manage that.”

He pressed the bust closer to the spirit.

“Change is scary. Losing your past is scary. But it isn’t worth losing yourself over, especially when the past isn’t coming back. Remember your history, but be at peace with letting it go. You were a butterfly once. Do you remember? I feel like you were a beautiful one.”

Sokka heard the men behind him gasp as the light got brighter. “It’s working.” One of them said, in awe.

“The airbenders who lived at this temple and were kind to you a hundred years ago are gone for good.” Sokka said. The caterpillar hissed at that. “But there are other people out there who can help you. My friend Aang and his weird little fan club of acolytes can help you!”

Sokka shielded his eyes as the spirit glowed brighter. “And I swear to you, I’m going to do whatever I can to protect you. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again. That’s a guaranteed Sokka promise.”

That seemed to do it. For a moment, it got so bright that Sokka couldn’t see anything.  
When his eyes came back into focus, he was met with a sight he would never forget. No longer a caterpillar, the butterfly spirit’s wings unfolded and flapped once, letting out a soft breeze that blew across the clearing. 

Sokka sighed contentedly. He felt safe, like all of his problems had just disappeared.

_That must be the good luck and prosperity that the spirit used to bestow on Swallowtail Town. Finally! I could use some good luck._

The butterfly itself was a little over ten feet tall. Most of it was a cerulean blue color, but the tips of its wings were black. It radiated a soft power.

“You know, I have to say that you look better this way.” Sokka said to it. “Graceful butterfly suits you more than rampaging caterpillar.”

“The girls aren’t coming down!” The earthbender who had been working away at the cocoons called over. He had stopped hacking away when the spirit had transformed, but went right back at it once it had finished. 

_He seems like a good dad. Now I feel even worse about trying to beat him up._

Sokka went over to help, and between him, the two earthbenders, and the two other nonbenders still standing, they cut down all five cocoons after ten minutes of work. Opening them was a more delicate process, but they were able to do that too. 

All of the girls were fine. When their cocoons were opened, they opened their eyes and yawned like they were waking from a light sleep. The butterfly spirit observed all of this from the sidelines.

A minute after the last girl was removed from the cocoon, Sokka noticed Lei starting to move again. Poking one of the other earthbenders in the shoulder, he asked, “Hey, could you maybe stop him from trying to kill me when he wakes up?”

“Sure thing.” The man backed Sokka up as he walked over to Lei.

Lei blinked. “You. I’m going to-”

“Calm down.” Sokka stood over Lei. “It’s over.”

“No, it isn’t! You stole those relics from me!” The ground shook as Lei began to move the earth, but a stern stomp from the earthbender with Sokka stopped it.

“I don’t think it counts as stealing when you stole them first.” Sokka said back, crossing his arms. 

“What happened to the spirit?” Lei looked nervous. “Is it dead?”

Sokka moved to give Lei a view of the butterfly behind him. “No. I think you’ve got some apologizing to do to it, though.”

Lei stared at Sokka. “You weren’t lying. I can’t believe it.”

“I told you that there was another way to deal with it. You were just too focused on your own gain to see that.” 

“Not about that. You really are a friend of the Avatar, aren’t you? All those stories you told were true.”

“Yeah, I know the guy.” Sokka admitted. “But don’t forget, I’m the one who beat your ass twice and solved the problem you created.”

Lei immediately lost all semblance of pride. “Please, don’t tell him about what I’ve done! I’ll never interfere with spirits again. I promise you!”

_Seriously? He won’t listen to anything I say, but knowing that he might get a visit from Aang is what does it? I think he’d be acting different if he knew how nice the Avatar really was. Still, I guess I’ll take it._

Sokka decided to have a little fun with Lei. “Hm, I’m not sure. The standard punishment for a crime like this would be to take your bending away. I think it would be warranted in this case.”

“Please, no! I’ll do anything!” The strong-willed earthbender Sokka had gotten to know over the past few days was now as spineless as a fire urchin. “Don’t tell him about me!”

“I don’t know,” Sokka stared at Lei intently. “Are you going to pull something like this again?”

“I would never!”

“I feel like I should get that in writing or something, but I’ll take your word for it. Not that your word means much.”

Lei let out a shaky breath. “Thank you. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I might still send him to check up on you sometime, so don’t let that good behavior slip!” Sokka had no intention of doing that, but seeing the fear in Lei’s face as he said it was just too worth it.

“Please don’t send him.” 

“We’ll see. Oh, also! I’m keeping the sword!” Sokka smiled at Lei.

He got a scowl in response, but no outright objections.

“Would I be pushing my luck if I asked you to admit that I’m the strongest opponent you’ve ever faced and the boomerang master of the world?” 

“Yes. You would.” Lei muttered lowly.

Sokka held out a hand to help him up, which was ignored. Lei stalked off without another word. “Alright, then. Have a nice life.” Sokka muttered. Turning to the other earthbending villager who had been watching with an amused expression, he asked, “Are you all headed out?”

“Yeah, Aiguo wants to get his daughter back home as soon as possible. You’re not coming with us?”

“No. I have someone coming back for me in a few days. Besides, I don’t think putting Lei and I in close quarters for too long would be a great idea. He seems like a sore loser.”

“You’re not wrong about that.” The earthbender stuck out a hand. “Thank you for your help. I’m sorry my friends and I tried to smash you.”

“It happens.” Sokka shook the man’s hand.

“If you ever want to visit Swallowtail Town again, you’ll get a warm welcome.”

“I might. I have to go visit the governor of Daodong first. From what I’ve heard, he’s not the best.”

“Shun Liu?” The earthbender frowned. “If you get the chance, punch him for me.”

“Punching the governor of the province seems like an idea that couldn’t possibly get me into trouble!” Sokka joked. “But seriously, I’ll talk to him and see if he can get his act together.”

“You can try. In my opinion, politicians are worse than angry spirits.” The earthbender walked back to the group. When they were ready to go, they all moved quickly to leave, as if eager to leave the unsavory incident behind them.

Sokka watched them depart, not feeling fully ready to leave the meditation circle yet. Once the group was out of sight, the butterfly spirit flew closer. The way it flapped its wings was hypnotizing.

“I was serious about what I said.” Sokka told the spirit, not knowing if it fully understood him. “I’m going to make sure that no one ever messes with you again. At least while I’m alive.”

The butterfly flapped once, and a stronger rush of wind came towards Sokka. 

“I’ll take that as a thank you.” Sokka smiled. 

It lingered for a moment longer, then flew off further down the mountain. 

“And I guess I should take that as goodbye.”

He stood inside the circle of stones for a little while longer before breathing in deeply. It was time to move on. Picking up the relics that were still lying on the ground and stuffing them back into his bag, he began his trek back up the mountain. 

_Looks like I’ll be here for a few days. Just me, Tai, and Guru Pathik. I might as well be alone, since those two probably won’t be very conversational. Great._

Sokka’s stomach rumbled. He stopped in his tracks.

_Oh no. I’m going to be stuck here for days. With no meat._

The realization made him want to drop to his knees and let out a primal scream, but that felt childish. Then, with a spark of glee, he realized that there was no one around. He released his inhibitions, dropped to his knees, and let out a primal scream.

“Nooooooooo!”

**Author's Note:**

> If I have the time for it, I might write a second part to this detailing what happens when Sokka actually makes it to meet the governor. Spoiler alert: I don't think it'll be the relaxing vacation he's hoping for.


End file.
